Magic bullet - Definition and Overview

Magic bullet may mean:

• The term used by bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich to describe his sought-for goal: a specific cure for syphilis which would attack the syphilis spirochaete while having no effect whatsoever on human tissue. He also applied the term to the drug he developed circa 1910, Salvarsan (arsphenamine). Salvarsan was not truly the "magic bullet" for syphilis because of significant deleterious side effects. The phrase "magic bullet" has, however, become associated with Ehrlich and Salvarsan and is still used today to characterize wished-for drugs.

• A disparaging term used by conspiracy theorists to described the bullet which the Warren Commission claimed under its single bullet theory to have hit both President John F. Kennedy and Governor John Connally. See also John F. Kennedy assassination.

• The original Magic Bullet of German folklore, the enchanted bullet that cannot miss its mark, made a wider debut into European consciousness as a feature of Carl Maria von Weber's ghostly opera with supernatural overtones, Der Freischütz, which was first performed in Berlin in 1821.

Compare: Silver bullet